Restaurant Basics: Why Guests Don't Come Back...and What You Can Do About It

Book Description

An easy-to-read, comprehensive, commonsense look at restaurant service from the guest's point of view. Helps teach the details of good service, develop meaningful middle management training and establish definitive operating guidelines that enhance service. Explores the particular process by which customers form their opinions of restaurant service. Provides a competitive advantage for restaurant operators.

Customer Reviews:

A VERY GOOD TOOL.......2001-08-18

This is a very good tool professionals can use to run their places.No matter what style is your restaurant or where in the world is located everything you read in this book solves you problems.Even if you use specialists to train your emploees it is good to read it yourself. The way it is written helps a lot to use the book.Just pick up a paragraph every day and try it like i did.You will see much differnce in your place within a month.

This is a good book for beginner restauranteurs.......2001-06-07

If you have been in the restaurant business for any length of time you do not need this book. It does not cover anything new. If you are looking for new ideas to satisfy your guests, or for details that you may be overlooking in quality service, this is not the book for you.

culinary books are more intresting if they state oppions........1999-01-14

I think culinary arts is importatn state in america and thier are so many books who don't give the whole picture.. Maybe thier should be...

An eyeopening look at dining out from the guest's perspectiv.......1998-11-16

I found this book very informative and easy to read. The thrust of the book centers on attention to detail, the task that seems to get lost or forgetten in the day-to-day operations of many restaurants! A great find!

Amazon.com

Hysteria is tough to define, but Elaine Showalter knows it when she sees it. She argues that a host of phenomena, both medical and fantastical--alien abductions, recovered memories, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple personalities--arise from a tripartite collaboration between physicians and mental-health professionals, unhappy patients, and a voracious, gullible media. Stories that should be metaphorical ("I feel that I've been taken advantage of in some way.") become real: "I have a recovered memory of ritual satanic abuse." She makes her case brilliantly, explaining the history, causes, and reactions, but offers no pat solution. "The hysterical syndromes of the 1990s clearly speak to the hidden needs and fears of a culture," she writes. When these go away, new ones will surely crop up to reflect the anxieties of a different era.

Book Description

This provocative and illuminating book charts the persistence of a cultural phenomenon. Tales of alien abduction, chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War syndrome, and the resurgence of repressed memories in psychotherapy are just a few of the signs that we live in an age of hysterical epidemics.

As Elaine Showalter demonstrates, the triumphs of the therapeutic society have not been able to prevent the appearance of hysterical disorders, imaginary illnesses, rumor panics, and pseudomemories that mark the end of the millenium.

Like the witch-hunts of the 1690s and the hypnotic cures of the 1980s, the hysterical syndromes of the 1990s reflect the fears and anxieties of a culture on the edge of change. Showalter highlights the full range of contemporary syndromes and draws connections to earlier times and settings, showing that hysterias mutate and are renamed; under the right circumstances, everyone is susceptible.

Today, hysterical epidemics are not spread by viruses or vapors but by stories, narratives Showalter calls hystories that are created "in the interaction of troubled patients and sympathetic therapists... circulated through self-help books, articles in newspapers and magazines, TV talk shows, popular films, the Internet, even literary criticism." Though popular stereotypes of hysteria are still stigmatizing, largely because of their associations with women, many of the most recent manifestations receive respectful and widespread coverage. In an age skeptical of Freud and the power of unconscious desires and conflicts, personal troubles are blamed on everything from devil-worshipping sadists to conspiring governments. The result is the potential for paranoia and ignorance on a massive scale.

Skillfully surveying the condition of hysteria -- its causes, cures, famous patients, and doctors -- in the twentieth century, Showalter also looks at literature, drama, and feminist representations of the hysterical. Hysterias, she shows, are always with us, a kind of collective coping mechanism for changing times; all that differs are names and labels, and at times of crisis, individual hysterias can become contagious.

Insightful and sensitive, filled with fascinating new perspectives on a culture saturated with syndromes of every sort, Hystories is a gift of good sense from one of our best critics.

Customer Reviews:

We all know it's true, she puts it in writing.......2005-06-20

Dr. Showalter's book is a well thought out critique of the "Medicalization of Human Distress." One does not need to look very far into the medical literature to find that many doctor visits find no organic cause for disease. Documentation is easy to find in the medical literature, even though the medical industry has a financial disincentive to publish anything that would classify any human condition outside the reach of medicines or surgery. Additionally, the argument that there remains some undetected disease which the doctor labels as hysteria because he or she cannot find it is logically specious. While it may be true if the doctor is not doing a good job, we have several centuries of medical science that provide us with a reasonably good set of tools to detect disease. Claims of conspiracy, or of an as yet undetected or recognized problem, is the stuff of movies and novels, but is usually not the truth. Dr. Showalter's book is most relevant because it points out truths that are well known to those who work in health care, and because she points out that the people who have these problems are not bad, weak, or of poor character. Rather, our society prescribes that people, especially women, express distress in somatic forms rather than emotional ones. Because medicine has an ever expanding focus, this form of expressing distress becomes the province of somatically focused physicians. What follows is surgery, medicines, and a conclusion that the person rightly belongs in the sick role, with all the rights that accrue to this role--disabililty payments, and release from daily responsibilities. Books like hers are increasingly important--we can no longer afford as a society to "medicalize" society's ills. To ignore her work is to contribute to the demise of the US health care system as we try to treat "nondisease." Dr. Showalter gives an excellent rationale for legitimizing stress as a medical problem, and de=emphazing medical causes and treatments for what are problems in living.

An Interesting Book, Ripe for Critics and Plain Enjoyment.......2004-10-12

While obviously more of an anecdotal examination than a scientific study, Elaine Showalter's presentation about various (in her estimation) hysterical manifestations is enjoyable, entertaining and, to a good degree, informative. My favorites are the recovered memories, satanic ritual abuse and alien abductions, all of which appear to result from someone wanting a little ordinary, good old attention. Oh man, I have deceased relatives from rural Central Texas who would have THRIVED on these sorts of things, if only they'd every known or thought about them. I was surprised, though, that the author did not mention the radiation hysteria of the late 1940s and 1950s, the early days of the atomic age when everyone was hunting everywhere for uranium -- like that incident wherein an entire film factory was torn down because the owners were CONVINCED that radioactivity was clouding one particular type of their film (and not a light leak).

I can see where some folks, such as Gulf War vets and chronically tired workers, would take umbrage at the suggestion their maladies are not genuine -- but that's for the reader to decide. I sincerely hope that the rest of my 14 separate personalities (the ones old enough to read, that is) find as much entertainment in this book as I did.

Elegant Treatment of a Controversial Subject.......2002-08-27

Hystories, by Elaine Showalter, is elegantly written and enthralling. Showalter presents a clear and engaging history of hysteria as social phenomenom and medical curiousity. Showalter covers key players including French physician Jean-Martin Charcot and the father of modern psychiatry Sigmund Freud. She reveals how males have used traditional views of hysteria to deride women. As well, she reports early feminists' scathing critique of this treatment and how early female psychiatrists denied or pleaded ignorance of hysteria. "Nineteenth century women, who lacked a public voice to articulate their repression" occasionally expressed through excepted modes of hysteria. Also this is a social commentary on modern hysteria and its diverse probable manifestations such as alien abduction, anorexia nervosa, chronic fatigue syndrome, gulf war syndrome, satanic ritual abuse, multiple personality disorder and recovered memory. Showalter states early on that "Redefining hysteria as a universal human response to emotional conflict is a better course than evading, denying or projecting its realities." She goes on to explore hysteria in a manner that accords it's manifestations the same respect as traditionally "physical" diseases. Controversial and passionately maligned by the special interests groups studied, Showalter's Hystories stands out as an intellectual and compassionate treatise on historical and modern hysteria. Showalter handles a difficult and touchy subject with poise and backs her work up with meticulous research, amply footnoted in the bibliography. Her compassion shows in passages such as this: "The conficts that produce hysterical symptoms are genuine and universal." In some passages, her wit and humor show: "I want to emphasize my belief that hysteria is a part of everyday life. Whenever I lecture about hysteria, I cough." Clarity and insight predominate throughout: "Psychiatrists who worked with shell-shock patients recognized that the most courageous, intelligent and virile soldiers could break down under pressure." Showalter equates manifestations of modern hysteria with the "shell shock" victims of war. Hysteria represents one "language" the stressed modern mind may use to express through the body when other modes of expression are short circuited or unavailable to an individual. Her premise is basic: modern conditions ranging from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to Gulf War Syndrome develop from the unbearable pressures of living with the stresses of our modern society. The extreme reactions this book receives from sufferers of modern iatrogenic disorders are understandable from an emotional standpoint, but unfounded in logic or fact. Modern science has proven the link between mind and body. Emotions and attitudes effect body chemistry, the development of physical illnesses, and the level of potential healing in the individual. Showalter's equation that these syndromes and other hysterical phenomena develop from a mind-body imbalance should not even raise eyebrows. Yet Showalter's thoughtful scholarship has evoked ironically hysterical reactions from her critics, including death treats, harassment and scathing reviews that ignor scientific research. Some detractors have tried to impeach Showalter's qualifications to even discuss the subject. Elaine Showalter is a medical historian and professor of The Humanities, as well as a professor of English. Those ample qualifications shine in this logical, crisp, compelling book. Although narrowly focused on hysteria, Hystories qualifies as a book of interest to students and practitioners of mind-body medicine, mainstream medicine and alternative healing. Hystories is also an intriguing read for those interested in psychology, social science, history, or popular culture. If you wish to explore mind-body medicine indepth, I also recommend: The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions by Esther M. Steinberg M.D., Molecules of Emotion by Candace B. Pert, Ph.D., Who Gets Sick by Blair Justice Ph.D., Head First: The Biology of Hope and The Healing Power of the Human Spirit by Norman Cousins, From Paralysis To Fatigue: A History of Psychosomatic Illness in the Modern Era by Edward Shorter, The Creation of Health by Caroline Myss Ph.D. and C. Norman Shealy, M.D. by Larry Dossey M.D., The Mind Body Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain by: John E. Sarno M.D., Why People Don't Heal and How They Can by Caroline Myss Ph.D., Alternative Medicine Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Environmental Illness
by Burton Goldberg, Editors of Alternative Medicine Digest and
The MindBody Workbook by David Schechter M.D., The Human Side of Cancer: Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty
by Jimmie C., M.D. Holland, Sheldon Lewis,
Transpersonal Medicine: The New Approach to Healing Body-Mind-Spirit by G. Frank Lawlis, Larry Dossey M.D. and
Healing Beyond the Body: Medicine and the Infinite Reach of the Mind by Larry Dossey M.D.

Interesting Book.......2001-08-02

Interesting read, although a little bit fuzzy in focus.

Ms. Showalter treats these subjects with compassion and intelligence, and it is not suprising to see the hysterical responses others have posted.

I find it rather amusing and sad that one person posted three separate reviews pretending to be three separate people. Did you think that your mistake of using Ctrl-M for LF's wouldn't get noticed -- in all three posts?

Unfortunately, many people have much invested (emotionally and/or financially) in keeping many of these "phantom" ailments alive and kicking

Controversial but never dull.......2000-12-30

I think I picked up this book for two of the least likely reasons. The first reason is that I regularly browse through McKay's book "Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds". Mckay's book, written well before the nineteenth century rise in popular psychology, has chapters of amusing and interesting anecdotes about crowd behaviour - and how it perpetuates itself. For some reason I expected Showalter's book to be the modern equivalent - it isn't, although let me state right here that this is by no means a bad thing. The second reason I read this was because I have been interested in vague way by all the Ritual Satanic Abuse media reports (and crowd frenzies) which have sprung up over the last couple of decades. We had our own incident of it in New Zealand recently you see - which has resulted in very unsatisfactory result for many people - the alleged-perpetrators and supposed-victims. I hoped that this book would shed insight on why these events happen and illustrate it with other cases. Hystories did, well sort of .

I guess mostly what I expected was a sort of true-crime kind of book, with lots of incidents linked to one another. What instead I found was a very thoughtful historical and literature review of the development of pschological illness and the way in which they rise and are perpetuated. This does brush on Mckay's area - but Showalter's approach is more thoughtful and intellectual examining the complex reasons, psychological ones among them, for these events developing. I have to say this for Showalter, her research and footnoting seem impeccable. Were I actually more interested in the psychological development of disease then it would be no hard thing to check all of her sources and the developments of her arguments. It is certainly controversial in its topic, but it seems to me she never denies that people don't have some kind of disease - only that it isn't physical and it might not be what they think. I found it very thought-provoking indeed, almost the psychology of modern psychology.

So while I it wasn't at all what I expected - it was certainly worth reading. Perhaps it is the modern descendent of Mckay's work after all.

Average customer rating:
The Famous Hystory [History] of Herodotus. Limited edition
Leonard [intro.] Whibley
Manufacturer: Constable and Co Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KL1VXO

Average customer rating:
The Famous Hystory of Herodotus Translated Into English By B.R. Anno 1584
B.R.
Manufacturer: Constable and Co., Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2A26S

Average customer rating:
Hystories
Elaine Showalter
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPGK1Y

Average customer rating:

Good read, but slightly lacking focus

Hystories Hysterical Epidemics and Modern
Elaine Showalter
Manufacturer: Pan Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Clinical Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Gender Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Culture | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Medicine | Subjects | Books
Neurology | Internal Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books | Alzheimer's Disease | Audiology & Speech Pathology | General | Headache | Neuroscience | Sleep Disorders
ASIN: 0330346709

Customer Reviews:

Good read, but slightly lacking focus.......2005-05-04

The difficulty with a book on hysteria is that by definition it covers a multitude of vaguely defined subjects. Showalter tries, and mostly succeeds, in describing what was meant by "hysteria" throughout different periods of history, showing how it was viewed by patients and physicians. She discusses the changing theories about the causes of hysteria, as well as showing how the symptoms themselves changed as patients ideas about hysteria changed. While being interesting and well-written, the discussion of psychosomatic illness was slightly lacking in depth and science: I preferred Edward Shorter's "From Paralysis to Fatigue".

The book also covers modern forms of "mass hysteria", such as alien abduction, recovered memory and chronic fatigue syndrome, showing how easily people can be persuaded to believe that their problems are caused by some outside entity rather than looking at their own emotional problems or stresses.

Showalter also discusses feminism and the links between literature and hysteria, which I found a bit bizarre.

Overall it is a good and readable book, but does somewhat lack focus by covering a broad range of subjects in too little detail and by wandering off into unrela
ted areas.

Average customer rating:

THE HYSTORY OF MYDDLE
RICHARD GOUGH
Manufacturer: THE FOLIO SOCIETY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S52W26

Average customer rating:

THE HYSTORY OF THE JEWS
HENRY HART MILMAN
Manufacturer: DENT & SONS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RZ94GO

Average customer rating:

Political Hystories (Feminist Review)

Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0230542883

THUCYDIDES HYSTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR

Average customer rating:

THUCYDIDES HYSTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Unknown
Manufacturer: GUILD PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SAVH2W

The true order and methode of wryting and reading hystories (Bibliotheca humanistica)

Average customer rating:

The true order and methode of wryting and reading hystories (Bibliotheca humanistica)
Thomas Blundeville
Manufacturer: P. Lang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Study & Teaching | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 3820491376

Book Description

Aronsen draws on recently declassified documents in Ottawa and Washington to provide a reassessment of Canada's special relationship with the U.S. Toward this end, detailed new information is provided about Canada's contribution to the creation of the postwar economic order from the Bretton Woods Agreement to GATT. Canada's cooperation was rewarded by special economic concessions including the extension of the Hyde Park agreement in 1945, the inclusion of the off-shore purchases clause to the Marshall Plan, and Article II of the NATO Treaty. After the outbreak of the Korean War, Canada's resources played a crucial role in the production of weapons systems for the new air/atomic strategic doctrine. Several policies were adopted to facilitate the expansion of Canadian defense production, notably the relaxation of regulations on technology transfer; the encouragement of private sector investment; and the negotiation of long-term contracts at above-market prices. In the midst of these unprecendented peacetime developments Time Magazine observed that Canada had become America's "Indispensable Ally."

Book Description

It all starts at birth: Baby mules are just a bit more precocious than other equine creatures. Of course, the most obvious physical advantage of the mule is those magnificent ears! The Natural Superiority of Mules is a collection of essays, articles, and stories in celebration of all the unique qualities of these remarkable hybrids. Full-color photographs accompanying the articles illustrate the grace, strength, agility, and especially, the lovely long ears of these fantastic and fascinating creatures.

Sections include chapters on mule genetics and biology, mule training, mule history, and mule recreational activities. The book concludes with personal stories about the mules we love by the people who love them.

Contributors include:
* Robert M. Miller, DVM * Bill Loftus * Meredith Hodges * Loyd W. Hawley * Molly Chandezi * Jody Foss * Garry McClintock * Betty Robinson * Janet Lowe * and many more.

Mule lovers will be enchanted--and horse lovers just may be converted--by these tales of the stamina, intelligence, loyalty, and common sense displayed by the average mule.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful book! .......2007-09-01

A wonderful "coffee table" book.. I enjoyed reading it, but did
find some statements comical, my seven mules aren't near as good as
the ones in this book.. Course, I still love them!

Wonderful Book for anyone interested in Mules!.......2007-07-23

Read it all the way through and then gave two copies to friends! Well researched and really interesting!!

A Mule Owners darn Good Read!.......2007-07-08

John Hauer is a hero of mine and this book is one of the best ideas (and as I understand this man history) one of hundreds that really works well. It is a collection of anecdotes, historical facts and wonderful photographs and prints. It's also a monument to the great American Mule Culture that mule owners around the world have come to admire and respect. My only criticism is that the brief to each of those contributing could have been specific, and then their contribution proof read to weasel out the repetition about mule reproduction etc. But all in all a nodal piece of modern mule related literature.

Wonderful, Magnificent, Mules.......2007-03-18

I love this book!!! It is a unique collection of personal stories, essays and historical articles in celebration of the unique characteristics and qualities of the mule. It describes in detail there intelligence, sure-footedness, agility, strength, endurance, disposition and natural cautioness. The one trait that I loved the most about mules was there "Endearance". Actually there is no such word but the book says there should be. It is a descriptive of the way in which many people react to mules: they often want to hug and even kiss them. I found that term to be more than true! Mule Lovers will be captivated by this book and horse lovers...well...they may be converted.

Informative and Entertaining Reading.......2007-02-01

This book has been a very enlightening and educational read as a new mule owner. It is entertaining while being very informative also. It doesn't bore you while pointing out the differences between horses and mules and giving some history on mules. I have learned through this book and mule ownership that mules are in a class by themselves. I am looking forward to many great trail rides with my mule. This book is definitely five star reading!

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